Electrical cut-out apparatus.



No. 638,084. Patented Nov. 28, I899. L. ANDREWS.

ELECTRICAL CUT-OUT APPARATUS.

(Application filed Apr. 4, 1898.3

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ELECTRICAL CUT-OUT APPARATUS.

(Application filed Apr. 4, 1898.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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Patented Nov. 28, I899.

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(Application filed Apr. 4, 1898.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEONARD ANDREVS, OF HASTINGS, ENGLAND.

ELECTRICAL CUT-O UT APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,084, dated November 28, 1899.

Application filed April 4, 1898. Serial No- 676,279. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEONARD Annnnws, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Hastings, in the county of Sussex, England, have invented Improvements in Electrical Cut-Out Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improved constructions of cut-out apparatus for controlling electric circuits; and it has for its object to render such apparatus more sensitive, reliable, and effective than such apparatus as heretofore constructed.

In one construction of cut-out apparatus according to this invention and designed for use as a return-current cut-out a movable contact-piece adapted to make and break connection in a main or outgoing lead is adapted to be moved into the open position by a weight or equivalent that is normally held in a raised position by a trip or releasing device controlled by an electromagnetic device comprisin g a series coil adapted to be arranged in the main or outgoinglead and a sh unt-coil adapted to be connected across the main and return leads, these coils, preferably provided with magnetic cores or their equivalent, being so inductively arranged in relation to one another as to constitute, in effect, a shunt-motor, wherein one of the coils, with its core, if it has one, servingas an armature, is mounted to turn, and will tend to turn in one direction against a stop or resistance for a forward current and lock the movable contactpiece in its closed position and will turn in the opposite direction for a return current and release the weight, which in falling will move the said contact-piece into the open position and so open the main or outgoinglead.

As will be obvious, cut-out apparatus of the kind described can be constructed in various forms.

Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying illustrative drawings are elevations at right angles to each other, showing a return-current cut-out of the kind just referred to; and Fig. 3, a Vertical section thereof, partly on the line 00 0c and partly on the line 3 gjof Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail view. Fig. 5 is a part end elevation showing a modified construction. Fig. 6 is a plan; and Fig. 7, a vertical section, partly on the line 00 a? and partly on the line y y of Fig. 6, showing a modified arrangement. matic views showing further modified arrangements.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, 1 is the movable switch or contact,

consisting ofa channeled piece of conductingmateriaL-for example, bronzesecured by a bolt 2 toa porcelain or likeinsulator 3, having a corrugated exterior and carried by a bar 4, that is made in two parts, so that the insulator 3 can be clamped between their free ends. The other end of the bar 1 is pivoted to a bracket 5, extending from an iron base-plate 6, designed to be held in a vertical position against a wall or like support. The ends of the said movable contact 1 are arranged to be each forced between a pair of split metal spring-contacts 7 7, each pair of these contacts being carried by a porcelain or like insulator 8 or 8, having a corrugated exterior and a hollow base 8 that is fixed in a raised or channeled part 6 of the base-plate 6 by lead, sulfur, or like cementing material, the arrangement being such that when the fixed contacts 7 7 and movable contact 1 are properly engaged the pivoted bar 4 is vertical, or approximately so. At the outer side of the movable contact 1 is a weight 9, carried by the curved arm 10 of a lever pivoted upon the same pin 11 as the bar 4 and the other arm 10 of which is made short and so arranged that when the weight has been released and has by falling acquired some momentum it will strike against an abutment a on the bar 4 and rapidly disengage the contact 1 from the contacts 7 7. The weight 9 has secured to its upper part aspringcatch 12, adapted to engage with a tooth or shoulder 13 on a collar or disk 13, fixed to a horizontal spindle l4,thatis mounted in brackets 1%, extending from the upper part of the base-plate 6, and has fixed to it the upper end of a trip-lever 15. At the lower part of the iron base-plate 6 is another raised or channeled part 6, to which is secured, by lead, sulfur, or like material, a corrugated porcelain insulator 16, carrying a binding-screw17 or equivalent for connection to a return-conductor 18. The base-plate 6 is provided between the parts 6 6 with a projecting part 6, having a curved surface and designed to serve as a pole-piece. In the space between Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 are diagram.

this pole-piece and the said raised parts is arranged a series winding 19, which may ad.- vantageously consist of a few turns of copper tape insulated from each other and designed to carry the greatest current the apparatus will at any time be called upon to carry. The inner end of this winding is fixed to a metal plate 20, carried by a metal rod 21, extending from a boss 22, provided with a metal socket-piece 23, in which one end of an outgoing lead or conductor 2l can be electrically secured. The boss 22 is carried by another insulator 25, secured to the lower raised or channel part 6 of the base-plate. The plate 20, rod 21, boss 22, and socket-piece 23 may consist of a bronze or other metal casting. The other end of the series winding 19 is secured to a metal supporting-piece 26, connected to a plate 27, carrying the pairs of fixed contacts 7. The plate 27, carrying the other pair of fixed contacts 7, is formed with a socket-piece 28, in which is fixed one end of the adjoining length 24 of outgoing lead or conductor, so that the winding 19 will be in series with the two lengths of conductor. 29 is a shunt-winding of fine wire wound upon an ordinary shuttle-shaped iron armature-core 30,1nounted to turn on knife-edges or other hearings in lugs (3, projecting from the base-plate 6 and located within the series winding 19, one end of the shunt-winding being connected to the series winding, as at 19, and the other to the insulated binding-screw 17. Over the series and shunt windings is or may be fixed an iron plate 31, having a pole-piece 31 opposite to the pole-piece 6 on the base-plate 6, so that when the series winding is traversed by an electric current the iron plate will form with the base-plate a double magnetic circuit, which is completed through the armature-core 30, which is arranged between the pole-pieces 6 and 31. The armaturecore 30 and winding 29 are normally held in about the position shown in Fig. 4, so that the diametrical line joining the poles of the core 30 are at right angles or nearly so to the diametrical linejoining the pole-pieces 6 and 31, magnetized by the series winding 19. The armature-core 30 may be held in this position against a stop 32 by a weight or spring, (hereinafter called a weight,) preferably by making the lower polar side or end of the said armature-core heavier than the upper one. To one of the plates 33 at the end of the armature-core 30, so as to turn therewith, is fixed a pin 34:, that engages the lower bent end 15 of the trip-lever 15, so as normally to hold the said trip-lever in a position to hold up the pivoted weight 9. The point of contact between the pin 34 and bent end 15" of the triplever is so arranged (see Fig. 4) that it is located in an are A A, that passes through the center of motion B of the armature-core 30, and has its center at the axis 0, about which the lever turns, and the said bent end of the lever is so shaped that the pin can move over it in a direction to release itviz., in the direccsaosa tion of the arrow-without having to move the lever and connected parts. By this construction the trip device is rendered very sensitive and reliable, as the only resistance which the armature core and winding when moved backward by a return current have to overcome is that due to friction between thepin S t and lever end 15, which is small and may be rendered still less by placing an antifrictionroller on the pin. Consequently a small return current in the series winding 19 will suflice to effect the automatic opening of the switch or cut-out.

As will be seen, the construction of the shunt-motor is such that current flowing in a forward direction through the series winding 19 will assist the armature-weight to hold the armaturecore 30, with shunt-winding, in the position shown in Fig. 3, but a return current in the said series winding will overcome the weight and turn the armature-core and shuntwinding in the opposite direction sufficiently to disengage the trip-pin 3t from the end 15 of the trip-leverand release the lever 10 10, which in falling will strike against the abutment 4 and rapidly turn the movable contact 1 into the open position, so as to effect a quick break between the fixed contacts 7 7 and movable contact 1 and preventdangerous arcing.

Fig. 5 shows in elevation how the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to st, inclusive, can be adapted for use as an excess-current cut-out. For this purpose the shuntwinding 29, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, is removed from the armaturecore 30 and a spring 35 (or weight) is pro vided that normally acts to hold the core 30 against a stop 36 in opposition to the rotative action of a current of normal strength in the series winding 19 and in such a position that the diametrical line joining the pole-pieces of the core will, as shown, form an angle of about forty-five degrees, with the diametrical line joining the polar projections magnetized by the series winding. Upon the said series winding being, however, traversed by a predetermined greater current the spring 35 will yield and allow the core to rotate to a small extent and cause the pin Set to release the trip-lever 15 and permit the switch to be opened by the falling weight, the apparatus thus acting as an excess-current cut-out. The trip-lever 15 and pin 3t are in this case so arranged, as shown, that the trip-lever will be released by forward rotation of the core 30 against the opposing action of the spring 85 (or weight) instead of by a backward motion, as in the previous case.

The apparatus hereinbcfore described is specially suitable for use as a low-tension cut-out.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a modified construction of apparatus suitable for use as a high-tension cut-out. In this case the stationary spring metal contacts 7 7 are fixed at the bottom of a pair of metal vessels S7 37, that are sulfured or otherwise secured in earthenware or like insulating pots 38 38 and are charged with Water 39 for extinguishing the are formed between the fixed and movable contacts 7, 7, and 1, respectively,when the latter are moved into the open position by the falling of the weighted lever 10 10. The movement of this lever is normally prevented by the trip-pin 34, which is cont-rolled by the armature of an electric motor of the kind hereinbefore described and is arranged to act in the manner above explained either upon a trip-lever 15 for holding and releasing such weighted lever or directly upon a suitably formed end 15 of the weighted lever, as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 8.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing another construction of return-current cut-out apparatus according to this invention. In this case the series winding comprises two coils 19 19 and the shunt-winding comprises two coils 29 29, the four coils being arranged to form two compound solenoids arranged with their axes parallel and each provided with an iron core e1, respectively. The two cores are connected to the ends of a lever 42, carrying a trip-pin 34:, that normally engages in the manner hereinbefore described with a trip-lever 15 for maintaining a pivoted weight in a, raised position. The combined influence of the solenoids 19 29 and 19 29 on the iron cores 5L0 41 is such as to tend to move them in the direction of the arrow for a forward current and in the reverse direction with a return current, the movement with a forward series current tending to securelylock the trip pin and lever in position, and when the direction of such current is reversed relatively to the current in the shuntwinding then the movement of the cores tends to release the trip-lever 15 and weight 9 and open the cut-out.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view showing another construction in which the two windings, series and shunt, are arranged to form four separate solenoids each provided with a core. 19 and 19? are the pair of separate series coils provided with iron cores 4O 40, and

V 29 29 are the pair of shunt-coils provided with iron cores 4141, respectively. Two of the coressay 41 and ip-with or without their solenoids 29 and 29, are connected to a lever 42, mounted to turn about a center 42, and are connected to a catch or trip device of the kind mentioned and such as hereinbeforedescribed with reference to Fig. 9, such tripdevice working in connection with a pivoted weight 9, as before. The windings are adapted to be connected up, as hereinbefore explained, and the solenoids formed thereby are so arranged that the pair of cores -11 41 tend to move and lock the catch apparatus and switch in the closed position with a forward series current and to release the said catch apparatus and open the switch with a return current, as in the herein-previouslydescribed arrangements.

In speaking of the direction of current I do not intend to exclude alternate currents, but have described the invention for simplicity with direct-current examples. I apply my invention in the case of alternatecurrent working by making the apparatus according to the principles well understood, by which, although the currents are alternating, the simultaneous directions of the currents act relatively, as described with reference to direct currents. When used for alternating currents, the cores should preferably be laminated to prevent eddy-currents.

What I claim is- 1. Out-out apparatus comprising fixed and movable contacts, a loaded knock-out device separate from and adapted when released to strike the movable contact into its open position and break the circuit between the fixed contacts, a trip or releasing device for controlling the movement of said knock-out device, and an electric motor having a pivoted armature adapted when stationary to hold said trip and knock-out devices in position, and when partly rotated in one direction to release said trip device and permit the knockout device to open the cut-out, as set forth.

2. Cut-out apparatus comprising fixed and movable contacts, a loaded knock-out device separate from and adapted when released to strike the movable contact into its open position and break the circuit between the fixed contacts, a trip or releasing device for controlling the movement of said knock-out device, aud an electric motor having a'winding connected to one of the fixed contacts and adapted to be inserted in series with the main circuit to be controlled and a rotary armature which, when the said winding is not traversed by a current, or is traversed by a normal current will be held stationary and lock the trip or releasing device with the movable contact in the closed position, but which will turn, when the said winding is traversed by an abnormal current, and release the trip device and knock-out device and permit the latter to open the switch, as set forth.

3. Out-out apparatus comprising fixed and movable contacts, a loaded knock-out device adapted when released to strike the movable contact into its open position and break the circuit between the fixed contacts, a trip or releasing device for controlling the movement of said knock-out device, and an electric motor having series and shunt windings one of which is connected to one of the fixed contacts and the other of which is arranged upon an iron armature-core that is mounted to turn about an axis and is adapted to control said trip device, substantially as herein described.

l. Cut-out apparatus comprising fixed and movable contacts, a loaded knockout device adapted when released to strike the movable contact into its open position and break the connection between said fixed contacts, a trip device comprising a trip-lever for controlling the movement of said knock-out device, and a shunt electric motor having one of its windesaoee ings adapted to be placed in series with the main conductor to be controlled and its shuntwinding to be connected across said main conductor and its return-conductor, said shuntwinding being wound upon an iron armaturecore mounted to turn about its axis and provided with a pin adapted, when the armature is at rest, to lock said trip-lever in the closed position, and, when partly rotated, to release said trip-lever and permit the cut-out to be opened by the knock-out device, substantially as described.

5. Cut-out apparatus comprising a switch, a trip device comprising a trip-lever for controlling said switch, and an electric motorhaving a rotary part carrying a pin adapted to engage said trip-lever, the point of contact between said pin and lever 'being in an are that passes through the axis of movement of said rotary part of the motor and has its axis at the center of movement of said trip-lever substantially as described for the purpose specified.

6. Out-out apparatus comprising fixed and movable contacts, a loaded knock-out device separate from and adapted when released to strike said movable contact into the open position and break the circuit between the fixed contacts, a trip device controlling said knockout device, series and shunt windings provided with iron cores one of said windings and cores being mounted to turn about a center and a trip-pin connected to the said movable core and controlling said trip device, substantially as described.

7. Cut-out apparatus comprising fixed contacts, insulated vessels in which said contacts are fixed and which can be charged with water, a movable contact, a loaded knock-out device adapted when released to move the movable contact out of connection with the fixed contacts, a trip device for controlling said knock-out device, and an electric motor which when stationary holds said trip device in position but is adapted when operated, to release said trip device and permit the switch to be opened by the knock-out apparatus, substantially as described.

8. Out-out apparatus comprising an iron base-plate provided with a polar projection, a cover-plate provided with an oppositely-an ranged polar projection, fixed contacts secured to but insulated from said base-plate, a movable contact carried by a bar pivoted to said base-plate and provided with an abutment, a weight carried by an arm of a lever pivoted on said base-plate and the other arm of which is adapted when the weight is released to strike against the abutment on said bar and disengage the movable contacts from the fixed contacts, a trip device adapted to hold said weight in the raised position and having a downwardly-extending trip-lever, a series winding carried by the base-plate, connected to one of the fixed contacts and to an electrical connection, and adapted to polarize said polar projections, an iron armature mounted to rotate between said polar projections, means for normally holding said armature stationary, and a pin carried by said armature and normally engaging said trip-lever but adapted to release the same when the armature is pa'rtly rotated, substantially as described.

9. Cut-out apparatus comprising an iron base-plate provided with a polar projection, a cover-plate provided with an oppositely-arranged polar projection, fixed contacts secured to but insulated from said base-plate, a movable contact carried by a bar pivoted to said base-plate and provided with an abutment, a weight carried by an arm of a lever pivoted on said base-plate and the other arm of which is adapted, when the weight is released, to strike against the abutment on said bar and disengage the movable contact from the fixed contacts, a trip device adapted to hold said weight in the raised position and having a downwardly-extending trip-lever, a series winding carried by the base-plate, connected to one of the fixed contacts and to an electrical connection and adapted to polarize said polar projections, an iron armature mounted to rotate between said polar projections, a shunt-winding on said armature, means for normally holding said armature stationary, and a pin carried by said armature and normally engaging said trip-lever but adapted to release the same when the armature is partly rotated, substantially as described.

10. Electrical cut-out apparatus comprising a switch, a loaded switch-operating lever separate from and adapted when released to open said switch, a pivoted trip-lever adapted to hold said catch-lever in the raised position, a rotary stop device adapted to hold said triplever in the locking position, and an electric motor having a rotary armature connected to said rotary stop device, said armature being normally stationary and acting to then hold said stop device in the operative position but adapted to turn and rotate said stop device into a position to release said trip-lever when the normal electrical conditions no longer obtain, and the surfaces of contact between said stop device and trip-lever being such that the stop device can move without lifting or doing any work on said trip-lever, substantially as described for the purposes specified.

Signed at 2 Popes Head Alley, Cornhill, in the city of London, England, this 28th day of February, 1898.

LEONARD ANDREWS,

\Vitnesses:

WM. 0. BROWN, EDMUND S. SNElVINi 

